The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1887-03-19

Yes said Mrs. James Brown Potter, |
a few days ago. Il am going to France
for the winter. She had just returned
Lake. and as she sat in the pretty parlor
of her cottage her cheeks flushed with
exercise, her eyes bright with health.
her stately figure clad in yachting suit
which had pleased the taste of the Prince
of Wales at Cowes last Summer, she
seemed more than worthy of all the
praise which has been accorded her re-
markable beauty. 1T is not she con-
tinued. from any disloyalty 10 my ma
tive land that hurry back to Europe
An American is always an American.
But my uncle you know, is at present
our Minister TO France. and | shall take
advantage of that fact to spend the win,
ter in Paris. | want to study the French
language and literature and French art
at the very fountain heads. You see
have been q good deal of q traveller and
wandering about is a habit which grows
on one. have been to the Holy Land.
Mr. Potter and spent Fourth of July
two years ago just across the Arctic Cir
Gle in Norway. We were looking for
the midnight sun and found starvation
had nothing to eat for thirty-six hours.
| shall leave New York for France on
the Gascoigae on the 9th of November
Meanwhile | have a great many duties
engaging nv attention. You know | am
publishing book of recitations for the
use of amateurs. II will contain about
seventy pieces which are, in nv
opinion, especially fitted to interest an
audience An audience doesn't care to
Il.
how well poet may paint the beauties
of nature. his verse viii never be popu-
lar for recitations unless he has the dra-
matte instinct. An audience grows rest
less if you do not talk to them of people
of human life, of something besides land
scapes and metaphysics. An audience
demands from a reciter story of every
day existence. something which every
man and woman within hearing knows
to be true in conception if not in fact
And "Ostler 10, you have him on
the listg was asked
st0h, yes: and few poems which have
never yet challenged public criticism.
Mrs. Ella Wheeler Wilcox, who. by the
way, is charming lady. came out here
10 see me and said. before she left, that
she would write me poem adapted to
recitation. She has sent ID to me and
am delighted with it. 1t is destined to
be very popular. II is called Two Sin
ners. and illustrates the tendency of So
ciety to forgive man who goes wrong
while it remains unrelenting towards a
woman who errs. The poem Is both
musical and dramatic and will he one of
the striking features of my book. The
Lippincotts of Philadelphia. will bring
out the little volume about the 1st of
December | have had To write to the
American authors whose poems | use for
permission to publish their verses. am
in receipt of some delightful letters.
Whittier SAKE and John Hay are among
those who have written me. The latter
sent me a most charming note. His Jim
Bludsoe' | am very fond of. as | am
Southerner, you know The Prince of
Wales never tired of this piece and often
asked me to recite it Mr. Hay. among
other things. wrote that when he heard
Charlotte Cushman recite Jim Bludsoe'
he wondered who wrote it. Mr.. Glider
After Sorrows Night was also very
popular in England. 1t was surprising
to me to find the English so enthusiastic
about my simple method of delivery.
They seem to admire quiet and sub
dueG manner in an eloeutionist much
more than do my own countrymen- A
peculiar thing happened to me not long
ago. A Mrs. Runcie from somewhere
that she had Travelled 1000 miles to ask
ne to use her poems in my recitations.
have chosen for my book poem by
her called To Ny Love, which / think
will please the public. | think my coll
lection ought to be very useful to anna
teur elocutionists. as it is the result of
years of sitting from hundreds of recita-
tive poems The Prince of Wales has
written to me asking for the first copy,
which shall be sent him. | am going to
dedicate the little volume to Browning.
am very fond of Browning. In reply
to my letter asking him if | might dedi-
cate my book to him | received to-day
most charming note. He says: our
| pleasant piece of kindness finds me away
/ from home, but | make haste to answer
/ that | shall be honored and what is bet
/ teri gratified by the proof you propose
| to give me that have not wholly drop
/ ped from out that admirable memory of
/ yours. | was much. amused at the inter
/ est Mr.. Browning took in Chicago. He
| piled me with questions at a dinner one
evening about Chicago. and seemed to
! feel that his poetry was more fully ap-
preciated in that city than anywhere else
in America Mr. Browning is charm
ing man. OF all my mementos of En-
! gland | value his letters and the pins
| given me by the Prince of Wales the
highest
What do you think of Wilson Bar
rett, Mrs. Potter?''
.Oh. admire him very much He
was out here TO see US Sunday night and
had to wait three hours at the station as
the train was late. | thiuk he is very
remarkable actor He has peculiar
magnetism which always wins an audi